Changing Black Edition suspension to adaptive...

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Macster

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• Sep 25, 2016

• #1

Hi all,

So I have a 14/63 plate Black Edition saloon, I love it, but my other half hates the harsh ride, I thought I could VCDS the MMI to enable adaptive settings, but it seems I need to change the hardware, can someone tell me the best way to go about this please; do I need to change the springs or the struts, or both?

Thanks in advance

Baz

 

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Adam Russell

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• Sep 25, 2016

• #2

will cost a fortune to install all that

 

Darren92

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• Sep 25, 2016

• #3

As above. It's a road you don't even want to consider going down.

 

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Macster

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• Sep 25, 2016

• #4

So not a straight swap; thought I'd be able to just swap out with adjustable ones, are they an air kit then?

I've seen aftermarket kits circa £2.5k, which is a bit much & a lot of work, would softer springs do the trick, or mess up the handling?

 

feva

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• Sep 25, 2016

• #5

Having a black edition myself can't say I've noticed a harsh ride or had anyone comment on the suspension.

Seems a whole lot of work and messing about, just tell the wife the tyres were too overinflated which made the ride hard, you've now sorted it. Never know might work

Sent from my Note 4 using tapatalk

 

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Adam Russell

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• Sep 26, 2016

• #6

would be cheaper to have the car just put on air ride(+ much better ride), look at caraudiosecurity

 

LukeyC

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• Sep 26, 2016

• #7

AFAIK, The adaptive dampers use a fluid with iron filings and an electric current to alter the viscosity of the fluid as it passes through the valve in each corner.

As someone who has adaptive dampers, they are brilliant and really increase the car's spectrum from motorway cruises in comfort, to a much firmer set up in the twisties. You can feel the difference both in terms of less / more body roll and also the secondary ride over bumps.

I absolutely love it, and usually switch between modes most drives to suit.

But I wouldn't pay more than about £1200 to retrofit it. It's not just that important.

 

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Dippy

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• Sep 26, 2016

• #8

There's more than one system in use. I think the magnetic one is used on the A3/TT platforms and the A4 uses a simpler hydraulic system which has motor adjustment, but I could be wrong. Either way, of course its not just the dampers that need changing, but a wiring harness would need to be added. So as others have stated, by no means a simple retrofit.

 

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